


To Cure A Witcher

by SkadiLothbrok



Category: The Witcher, Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Cage, F/M, Injury, Torture, Violence, Witchers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27426241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkadiLothbrok/pseuds/SkadiLothbrok
Summary: Somebody is taking Witcher's in their quest to 'cure' them, Whilst answering a contract, you are ambushed and find yourself having to deal with this problem first hand.
Relationships: eskel/ reader, eskel/ you
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

"Toss a coin to your Witcher" that stupid song was playing in the bar as you made your way inside. Of course it would be Geralt who managed to have a song made about your kind. Ignoring the bard singing in the corner, you headed for the bar to ask for the Henrik who had posted the Harpie contract. Whispers reached your ears from around the tavern as villagers noticed you. "I'm looking for Henrik" you told the barkeep.

"He not long left" the man answered without even looking at you as he wiped down the bar "lives in the small house on outside of town" he added, clearly hinting at you leaving. You simply gave him a nod in acknowledgement before turning and heading to find Henrik at his house.

As you made your way through the village, you took note of how few people there were about. Sure it was almost sunset and most people didn't like to be out at night, but you expected to at least see some sign of life. Even the bar had been quiet when you'd been in. No more than 15 or so people. Glancing at house windows, there didn't seem to be many with candles lit inside. You could see the small house that the barkeep had directed you to up ahead, but your suspicions made you hesitate.

You could hear the distant sounds of the tavern but no other sounds seemed to reach your ears. Hand reaching for the hilt of your sword you prepared yourself for an ambush. You took another few steps towards the house before a flash of light temporarily blinded you. Relying on sound and smell alone, you fought off the attackers as best you could whilst your vision returned but you took a couple of cuts and hits in the process.

Finally able to see again, you counted 6 men in total. As two of them lunged at you, you cast Aard and sent them flying backwards. Whilst they were distracted you spun to take out one of the men before he could even react. This only seemed to anger your attackers though, who all rushed you at once.

Steel clashed as you fought them off, trying to break their circle which they kept around you. Another of them fell as you managed a fatal wound across his chest. Moving to break out of their circle, you ran in that direction and past the dying man. Once you were out, you made sure to keep them from surrounding you again. One of them managed a particularly deep cut across your thigh which had you stumble slightly before regaining balance.

You weren't exactly making and progress but you were at least holding your ground. That was until a high pitched ringing reached your ears, feeling as though it might actually make your ear drums explode. You ignored it for as long as you could before having to bring your hands up to cover your ears. You expected the men to attack whilst you did so but they simply watched you with a smirk.

Blood trickled from your ears as the ringing continued. Falling to your knees you desperately tried to shield your ears from it but to no avail. It seemed to grow louder and louder. The last thing you saw before passing out was a cloaked figure walking your way.

\--

When you came to, you were in what appeared to be a small cave which had been converted into a prison. Looking around, there was no sign of the men who'd ambushed you but you spotted 2 figured at the back of the cell with you. Pulling yourself to your feet, you winces as pain shot from the wound on your thigh, before ignoring it and speaking "who are you?"

One of the figured seemed to look up at you and you realised that it was another Witcher. "Looks like the crazy bastard got another of us". The medallion hung around his neck told you that he was from the School of the Cat. There was always some tension between the Cat school Witchers and this didn't help you feel particularly comforted by his presence.

"Shut up Emiel" the other figure spoke up "if I have to keep hearing your voice then I will volunteer the next visit". This Witcher wore a wolf school medallion and you immediately felt more drawn to him than the car who he'd called Emiel.

"Volunteer for what?" you asked as you leant against the wall, still remaining a fair distance from them. You made sure to lean more on your uninjured right leg than your left.

"For the fun experiments that this idiot had in line for us" Emiel scoffed "if you're lucky, you'll get to hear the screams of Asher soon...if he's not dead already". Emiel didn't move his eyes away from the hold he'd been staring in the wall across from him at all as he spoke. It appeared that he had already resigned himself to his fate.

"What is he talking about?" you turned to the wolf school Witcher.

"The one who took us" he replied "he's trying to find a way to reverse the mutations. Of course, we all know that that can't be done. So far he's never bought anyone back".

You frowned as you took in this information. Why would anybody want to try and reverse a Witcher's mutations, let alone go to the effort of trapping a load of them whilst he tried to work out how. "Why is he doing it?"

"For fun probably" Emiel spoke up once more.

The wolf simply shook his head at your fellow Witcher and walked over to you instead "you're injured, do you need some help?" he looked down at the wound on your thigh which was lazily seeping blood.

"Appreciate the offer" you met his eyes "but I'm not sure either one of us has much in the way of medicines right now". You heard Emiel scoff at your comment and shot him a quick glare before returning your attention to the Witcher before you. "My name is Y/n" you introduced yourself "and you are?"

"Eskel" he replied and gave you a brief smile which pulled strangely at the scar running into his lip.

"How long have you both been here?" you said both but hoped that only Eskel would answer.

"Going on 2 days now" Eskel frowned "he was already here when I woke up, so was Asher who he took when they dropped you in here". If Eskel had been here for 2 days and Emiel and the Asher they spoke of had been here longer, it seemed as though the man was reeling in Witcher's at a worryingly fast rate.

"The contract on the Harpies" you asked "is that how he got you?"

Eskel nodded "thought something was strange about that town but convinced myself that I was just being paranoid. Second I stepped foot in that house, somebody jumped me from behind". Before you could say anything more, a scream reached the cave cell and all three of you turned to look in the direction it came from. It was rare that you heard anyone scream like that, let alone a Witcher. The scream was fueled by pure agony and sent you into a flashback of the pain of the Trials.

Shaking yourself from the memory, you turned your attention to the cell holding you. The cave walls were solid so there was no chance of getting out that way. That only left the metal bars with the built in door. Moving over to it, you found that the bars were deeply buried into the walls of the cave and the lock seemed well put together.

"You're wasting your time" Emiel mumbled "don't you think we tried breaking out?" Ignoring his comment, you continued your assessment of the door, eventually focusing in on the 3 large hinges that held it in place. Running your hand over them, you could feel that they were slightly worn by age and probably weren't as strong as they'd used to be.

"What is it?" Eskel asked before walking over to stand beside you.

"The hinges" you spoke as you continued to assess them "they're well worn. If we can get them to shift up then we might be able to loosen the door enough to get out". Eskel took in what you said before reaching to rattle the hinges himself. As another scream reached the cell you released a long breath "what've we got to lose right?"


	2. Broken Blade

"You sure about this?" Emiel asked for the thousandth time.

"Oh, I'm sorry" you turned to glare at him "did you have somewhere else to be?" Eskel laughed at your comment and Emiel simply shook his head at you whilst returning the glare. "We go on three" you took a breath "1...2...3" you cast an Aard either side of the centre hinge whilst the others did the same with the other 2 hinges. 

As you'd hoped, the hinges crumbled under the blast and fell apart. The door stood in place for a moment before beginning to topple over. Moving quickly, you grabbed it before it could crash to the floor and alert your captor. You carefully moved it to lean on the wall and listened for any sign that you'd been too loud.

Silence. "Let's get outta here" Emiel moved past you and made straight for the right passage that from what you could tell lead straight out of the cave.

"What about your friend Asher?" you asked, a little shocked that he would so easily abandon his fellow Cat. 

"He's not been screaming now for at least an hour" Emiel turned to tell you "he's as good as dead".

"You're not even going to check?" you frowned.

"You feel like going in there, knock yourself out" he started to move towards the exit once more "I'm getting out of this place before the crazy bastard kills me too". With that, he turned around and disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

Shaking your head in disbelief you turned to look down the other passageway to your left. Just because he wasn't screaming didn't mean that 'Asher' was dead. You'd hope that they'd come look for you if the tables were turned. "Bloody cats" you mumbled to yourself as you took off down the corridor.

"Y/n wait" Eskel came to your side "I'm coming with you".

"Nice to see that there's still some loyalty among Witcher's" you replied as you kept your attention on checking your surroundings. 

"I've only spent about a day with Emiel but from what I can tell he's an asshole" Eskel spoke quietly "the guy was going to take him instead but he forced Asher forward".

"What a guy" you scoffed back quietly as the corridor opened up to a bigger chamber. On a table to your left you found a whole pile of discarded swords, all appeared to be that of Witchers. Moving quickly over to the pile you found your swords sat on top of the pile and put them on your back. 

Eskel grabbed his own swords and you were about to turn away when something caught your eye. Reaching back out to the swords, you pulled on the hilt that had stopped you. You recognised it immediately and knew what it must've meant. "I know this sword" you whispered "it belongs to Sariden".

"You knew him?" Eskel asked.

"He trained me" you replied before pulling the sword from the pile only to find that it had been broken in the middle, only half remaining. Gritting your teeth in anger you turned to look at the passage that continued into the cave "this asshole has killed enough Witcher's" you tucked Sariden's broken blade into your belt "no more".

Eskel watched you uneasily, unsure on what to say in the moment. He understood the bond that forged between Witcher's of the same schools. And he especially knew how much pain it caused to lose your mentor. Seeing the anger on your face informed him that words weren't necessary anyway.

Making your way along the corridor you ensured that your footsteps were silent as you got closer to where you could hear movement. There was no sound from Asher but you were certain that the man who was responsible for all of this was the owner of the footsteps. At the end of the corridor, light reached out from the room it lead into.

Turning to shoot a quick glance at Eskel you nodded and grabbed your sword from your back. After another few seconds to confirm that he was alone, you moved into the room to face your target. As soon as he heard you, he spun around and opened his mouth in surprise "how did you get out?"

"I wouldn't worry about it" you advanced on him "you won't live long enough to hear the answer" speeding into a run, you lunged at him and would have dealt a killing blow were it not for the magic field he put up just in time. Pushing against the forcefield you started to gain distance before he dropped the shield in favour of sending a blast of wind into your chest.

You flew back into the far wall but quickly pulled yourself back up. Eskel watched the man warily as he waited for his opportunity to strike. Rushing to get back into the fight, you swung your blade as soon as you were close enough. He'd been distracted by Eskel and your blade cut through the back of his thigh, making him stumble. 

As his shield fell, Eskel managed to get another blow to his arm, weakening him further. Before he could cast any further spells, you had Sariden's splintered sword from your belt and at his throat "one more move and it will be your last" you snarled into his ear.

Eskel lowered his blade and glanced over at the table where it appeared the mans 'experiments' were carried out. There was no sign of Asher other than a lot of blood "where is Asher?" Eskel turned to sneer at the man. 

"Disposed of" he seemed far to happy in his response for your liking and you pushed the blade closer to his neck. When he laughed at your action you felt yourself grown even angrier "go ahead already" he spoke to you "you're going to kill me anyway so why wait?"

In that moment you asked yourself the same thing but a swift death would be to kind for him. Dragging him to his feet you walked him over to the blood covered slab of concrete. Seeming to understand your intentions, Eskel aided you in lifting the man onto the table and strapping him down.

"How many Witcher's have you killed here?" you asked with a blank face.

"I lost count" the man told you as he looked straight into your eyes "but I see you found my sword collection so I'm sure you know it's a high number".

You narrowed your eyes at him before punching him across the face. Again, he simply laughed "oh dear, did you know one of those I killed?"

"Shut up" Eskel warned the man.

"If you describe them to me, perhaps I can tell you how long they lasted before burning out on me" the man continued. Turning your back to him didn't help you since your eyes landed on the numerous bloodied tools that sat on the bench. In a moment of rage you tipped the table before turning back to him. 

"You know what" you began "I don't think I am going to kill you" his smile finally faded a little "what I'm going to do is walk out of here and leave you just where you are". 

This at last seemed to get a negative response from him "I will escape" he tried.

"No" you shook your head "you won't. And nobody will come for you either. You will lay there alone and in so much pain that when death finally comes you will welcome it". Happy with the fate that you'd decided for this monster, you quickly moved around to ensure that there was nothing he could use to get free before heading for the exit.

Eskel hesitated for a moment, glanced at the man one more time and then followed you. Once he was out of ear shot he spoke to you "there are other's working for him, how do we know they won't come and release him?" You'd placed Sariden's blade back into your belt and sheathed your own sword. 

"This is a cave right" you turned to him briefly "means it can cave in". 

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" Eskel was intrigued.

When you turned to him this time you grinned slightly "I simply need to find where he stored the other stolen belongings". A few minutes later and you'd done just that and there was quite a lot of stuff. What you wanted though was the bombs. 

"It's a wonder he didn't blow this whole place up ages ago" Eskel commented as he looked at just how much the man had stored. "I doubt he even knows what half of this does".

"Well let's show him" you collected various decoctions and supplies for the road, before grabbing as many bombs as you could carry. Eskel did the same and soon enough the two of you were piling up bombs along the side of the cave walls. 

With the job complete you stood back and turned to Eskel "on three again?"

"On three" he agreed.

"One...two...three" you both cast an Igni at the bombs and they soon went off in an enormous blast. Shielding yourself in a small nook in the wall with Eskel you waited for the commotion to settle. Once it had and the dust had cleared you looked to Eskel. "You good?"

"Yeah, you?" he asked. In the small nook you reaslied that you were stood very close and had an odd urge run through your head to kiss him. Scolding yourself for such a thought about a man you'd known less than a day, you moved from the space and looked at your handiwork.

Sure enough, the passageway was completely sealed shut by the fallen rocks and debris. Even if anybody did come to attempt a rescue, it would take them far too long to clear it all. "Well that certainly won't get cleared any time soon" Eskel voiced your thoughts. 

"Good" you nodded before turning and starting to walk out of what could have been the last place you'd ever seen. "How far do you think we are from that town?"


End file.
